Shipwreck: PIL filed before Kerala HC seeking environmental security deposit
The vessel was carrying 643 containers, including 244 with hazardous and noxious substances, 58 with foreign waste, and over 450 metric tonnes of marine fuel. Despite the confirmed presence of this dangerous cargo, neither adequate wreck removal nor oil extraction has been carried out.
In his petition, Mr. George said that one of the gravest concerns emerging from the sinking of the vessel was the apparent and deliberate misdeclaration or non-declaration of cargo, which not only violated Indian Customs laws and international maritime conventions but also posed significant risks to public safety, national security, and environmental integrity. The incident has in turn triggered catastrophic ecological, economic and legal consequences. The hazardous materials in the containers and bunker oil pose severe risks to Kerala's marine biodiversity, particularly during the monsoon fish spawning season. Oil sardines, a vital source of income for Kerala's coastal fishermen, are at risk of extinction due to this maritime disaster.
The incident has exposed glaring regulatory failures — cargo misdeclaration, lack of advanced container scanning at ports, insufficient port State control (PSC) measures, and a disturbing attempt to evade liability through corporate structuring. This has also made arrest under the Admiralty Act ineffective, necessitating urgent judicial directions to secure $134 million as environmental security deposit before the court as interim security for environmental and economic damage, Mr. George said in his petition.
Through this PIL, he sought urgent and comprehensive relief to mitigate the environmental, legal and economic fallout of the ship sinking incident. He also sought a direction to arrest any MSC vessel within India's Admiralty jurisdiction to secure maritime claims and a direction for an immediate and independent investigation into the gross cargo misdeclaration, an order mandating the installation of advanced scanning, detection and verification infrastructure at all Indian ports and a time-bound, court-monitored wreck removal and environmental remediation operation.
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